The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025 was far from predictable. It was total chaos, marked by crashes, penalties, and unexpected podiums. But what shocked everyone the most was McLaren’s result with Lando Norris on P7 and Oscar Piastri ending in DNF. McLaren stepped into this weekend in hopes of closing the Constructor’s Championship 2025 with a double podium, but as the fate would have it, with Piastri’s early crash in lap 1 and Norris failing to secure a better place on grid, these hopes were shattered. Not only did they lose a chance to lock in the championship with seven rounds yet to go, they endured the worst weekend of the 2025 season.

It’s no surprise that McLaren has been at the top of their game this season, and the only weekend that comes close to Baku’s result was the Canadian Grand Prix 2025, where Lando Norris ended up in DNF and Oscar Piastri finished P4. But Baku 2025 was even worse.

Baku 2025: McLaren’s Nightmare

The drama began before the race even really got going. Piastri, starting from ninth on the grid, made a costly error by jumping the start. This rare misjudgment for the championship leader dropped him to the very back of the pack. And not long after, at Turn 5, a crash brought his race to an abrupt and crushing end, resetting his 34-race streak of finishing Grand Prix events to zero and leaving McLaren staring at a zero on the scoreboard from one of their stars.

Lando Norris, meanwhile, managed to avoid a nightmare but was far from trouble-free. Limited overtaking opportunities and a painfully slow pit stop (4.1 seconds) kept him bottled up in midfield, unable to capitalise on Piastri’s misfortune or push significantly up the order. Finishing seventh meant he could only earn six points from Piastri’s championship lead.

From start to finish, the Baku race was a challenge for McLaren, and the luck just wasn’t on their side.

Looking ahead, McLaren must figure out what’s wrong with them and fix it before Singapore next weekend. The season still has seven rounds left, and while the points gap has widened, there’s racing left to be done.

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McLaren driver Lando Norris reigned supreme over home superstar Max Verstappen to clinch the victory at the Dutch Grand Prix. This was his second career win, and second triumph of the season adding to his Miami Grand Prix victory earlier. 

Lando Norris outclassed Verstappen by over 22 seconds at Zandvoort to achieve the Dutch GP victory. With this the Brit handed home favorite Verstappen the first-ever defeat of the season in his backyard with more than 100,000 mostly orange-shirted fans rooting for Red Bull’s championship leader.

Lando Norris Gives A Fightback 

The McLaren driver’s showed exceptional performance after having a poor start. The 28-year-old started from pole position but was not able to convert it into a big advantage as he lost the lead on the opening lap. Despite the early hiccups,  Norris displayed his racing prowess with an early race overtake that proved decisive. This strategic acumen allowed him to regain control of the contest, ultimately leading him to secure a convincing victory.

Norris made a thumping comeback and with Verstappen facing challenges in his mid-stint, the Brit went past the Dutchman to take the lead. Norris did not lose his lead on track and the only time he lost his place was when he made a pitstop. His McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri took the lead in the race but could not sustain longer. Norris made his way back to the lead after Piastri went to the pit and there was no looking back thereafter.

Norris achieved the chequered flag with a huge gap of 22.896 seconds ahead of Verstappen, the biggest margin so far this year.  However, it is still a great distance behind the triple-world champion with nine races remaining in the season.

On being asked about the title victory at the Dutch GP, Norris said, “I’ve been working hard the whole year and I’m still 70 points behind Max. So it’s pretty stupid to think of anything at the minute. I just take one race at a time and just keep doing what I’m doing now because there’s no point to think ahead and think of the rest.”

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This was the first time since 2012 that a McLaren driver won an F1 race after starting on the pole position. The last time a McLaren driver achieved a victory from pole was Lewis Hamilton, who claimed the Italian GP 12 years ago.

Lando Norris also took home the extra point for the fastest lap to take the full 26 points in the offing. Verstappen returned home placed second and took 18 points. The Dutch now owns 295 points and lead Norris in the championship standings by 70 points.

Lewis Hamilton won his first race since December 2021 by outlasting Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in a thrilling wet-dry British Grand Prix.

Hamilton had just enough to fight off a late push from Verstappen’s Red Bull to win his 104th career race, his ninth at home, and set the record for most victories on a single circuit.

Verstappen, who had struggled for pace for much of the race due to two distinct periods of rain, came alive in the last circuits to capture second place behind Norris, who finished third.

Hamilton, who was driving in his final British Grand Prix for Mercedes before joining Ferrari next year, appeared to be in tears in the car as he told his team, “This means so much to me,” as they congratulated him on the radio.

“This one means a lot to us all,” his engineer, Peter Bonnington, explained. “I love you, Bono,” Hamilton said.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, described the victory as “a fairytale” for both the team and Hamilton.

Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, who was also in the lead fight for the opening part of the race, finished fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Lewis Hamilton‘s comeback with victory

Despite the bad weather, the top drivers and three leading teams put on a spectacular display in front of a crowd of 164,000 people who cheered the British drivers, particularly Hamilton, to the rafters.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton led the early laps after the team secured the front row of the grid, while Verstappen past Norris down the outside of Turn Four on the first lap to finish third.

However, the Red Bull did not display its normal race pace, and Norris reclaimed third place on lap 15 with a pass into Stowe corner.

Piastri followed the Briton through two laps later, just as the first shower of rain began, putting the McLarens, who had chosen a higher-downforce setup than Mercedes and Red Bull, in command.

Hamilton made the first move, however, bypassing Russell into Stowe on lap 18.

A few laps later, both Mercedes drivers skidded off the track at Turn Two at the start of lap 19 as they battled for grip on the treacherous track, and Norris pounced, past Russell at Turn Four before closing up on Hamilton and passing him at Turn One on lap 20.

Piastri raced up to second behind him, and the McLarens went one-two for five laps as the track began to dry.

The lead cars went out on slick tyres for the first bout of rain, but the teams knew more was on the way, and as the rain fell heavier, Verstappen benefited from an early intermediate stop on lap 26.

Norris, Hamilton, and Russell followed him a lap later, with Piastri suffering as a result of lingering out on the slicks for another lap and losing ten seconds to the lead pack.

Verstappen moved into third place behind Norris and Hamilton, with Russell in fourth.

Four laps later, Russell was forced to withdraw his Mercedes due to a water system issue.

By lap 38, with 14 laps remaining, the track was mostly dry, and Verstappen again jumped early for a tyre change.

He and Hamilton came to a stop together, with Mercedes using soft tyres and Verstappen using hard, while Norris waited for a lap before switching to softs.

The early stop, combined with a delay in the pits for McLaren as Norris stopped past his markings, propelled Hamilton into the lead.

It set up a grandstand finale, with the three cars captured in a single camera shot on the Hangar Straight during the race’s climax.

Lewis Hamilton always appeared to have Norris under control, but it soon became evident that Verstappen was the real threat, with the Red Bull altered by the decision to move to hard tyres.

Verstappen passed Norris on lap 48 down the Hangar Straight and entered the final four laps 3.2 seconds behind Hamilton and closing close.

But Hamilton had enough to hold him off, reaching the finish line 1.4 seconds behind, before fighting back tears as he climbed out of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Norris and Piastri were left to rue some questionable McLaren pit calls – both Norris’ stops were a lap too late, and Piastri was undone by the decision not to double-stack him behind Norris when they switched to intermediates.

And Piastri’s pace on the medium tyres after the race – he was the fastest vehicle on the track by a significant margin, gaining 10 seconds on the leaders – suggested that Norris, too, should have switched to the same compound when he made his last stop.

Behind Sainz, Hulkenberg finished sixth in a highly improved Haas, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with Williams’ Alex Albon and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten in points.

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Max Verstappen has ranked the top five F1 drivers of all time, with one name standing out.

The 26-year-old Dutchman is becoming more and more common in these discussions as a result of his three championships and sixty grand prix victories.

But when asked lately who his own top five would be, one name that is rarely mentioned made the list.

The top five F1 drivers of all time are a hotly disputed topic. The requirements, expectations, and physicality of F1 have all altered dramatically over the last 74 years, and the sport has grown through generations over that period.

Given how difficult it is to compare drivers from different eras, it is both subjective and scholarly. In short, it’s almost impossible to answer; however, Verstappen gave it a shot.

“I know what happens because whatever I say, there will be people commenting and disagreeing. It’s a difficult question,” he told DAZN, before giving his answer.

“I will go for Michael [Schumacher], probably also Ayrton [Senna], Fernando [Alonso], Lewis [Hamilton] and [Juan Manuel] Fangio. The familiar names.”

Who are the Verstappen’s Favourite Five F1 Drivers?

However, one name jumps out, no matter how familiar it may seem. Fernando Alonso is the most experienced Formula One driver of all time, and while he has always been one of the most gifted, his results have not always reflected that, having spent much of his later career with midfield teams.

He made his debut for Minardi in 2001 and will still be racing 25 years later, with his next Aston Martin deal running until at least the end of 2026.

Since 2001, he has participated in 389 Grands Prix (starting all but three) and won 32 times, the last of which was 11 years ago. However, the Red Bull driver believes that the two-time champion’s success is based on more than just winning.

“I think Fernando always shows himself as he is,” Verstappen said. “That is something I admire enormously. He has been very successful but remains passionate about racing. 

“He’s a typical, kind man, which I like. He is also very pleased when another driver performs well.

By the time the next Aston Martin agreement is completed, it will be two decades since he won the second of his two drivers’ titles. It has been nearly ten years since he won a grand prix.

His career began with a bang when he became F1’s youngest race winner at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. However, despite not being widely regarded as one of the greatest five drivers in F1 history, his brilliance far outweighs her achievements in the competition.

Verstappen finds connections in his career and Alonso’s. Both reignited their home country’s love of Formula One, and both became their country’s first world champion.

“I believe he was the first Spanish Formula One driver to make the sport popular in Spain. He also became a global champion. “For me, it’s similar in the Netherlands,” the Dutchman added.

Verstappen believes parallels between his and Alonso’s careers. Both reignited their home country’s love of Formula One (F1), and both became their country’s first world champion.

“He loves racing and I love racing. He is even a little bit older than me because at his age he is still in F1. I have a lot of respect for him. I remember following him in F1 when I was still in karts. For him, I turned on the TV because I knew he was going to race well.”

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